Bill Johnson (William Manuel Johnson, August 10, 1872 – December 3, 1972), was an American jazz musician, considered the father of the "slap" style of string bass playing.
Johnson claimed to have started "slapping" the strings of his bass (a more vigorous technique than the classical pizzicato) after he accidentally broke his bow on the road with his band in northern Louisiana in the early 1910s. Other New Orleans string bass players picked up this style, and spread it across the country with the spread of New Orleans Jazz.


Read more about Bill Johnson's Louisiana Jug Band on Last.fm.